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16 billionaires who inherited their fortunes

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Liliane Bettencourt and daughter

We recently released our list of the 50 richest people on earth based on data from Wealth-X, which conducts research on the super-wealthy. Many of the billionaires on the list came from humble beginnings and built huge empires from next to nothing.

Others were born into money.

To find the wealthiest people in the world, Wealth-X looked at its database of dossiers on more than 110,000 ultra-high-net-worth people and used a proprietary valuation model that takes into account each person's assets, then adjusts estimated net worth to account for currency-exchange rates, local taxes, savings rates, investment performance, and other factors. We narrowed that list down to just the billionaires who inherited at least part of their wealth.

Some built upon their inherited fortune to create companies that far exceed those of their parents or spouses — like the Koch Brothers or L'Oreal's Liliane Bettencourt — while others, such as the Mars siblings, haven't actively expanded the family business. 

Here are the 16 richest heirs and heiresses in the world.

16. Laurene Powell Jobs

Net worth:$14.4 billion

Age: 52

Country: US

Industry: Media

The widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs inherited his wealth and assets, which included 5.5 million shares of Apple stock and a 7.3% stake in The Walt Disney Co., upon his death. Jobs' stake in Disney — which has nearly tripled in value since her husband's death in 2011 and comprises more than $12 billion of her net worth — makes her the company's largest individual shareholder.

Though she's best recognized through her iconic husband, Jobs has had a career of her own. She worked on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs before earning her MBA at Stanford in 1991, after which she married her late husband and started organic-foods company Terravera. But she's been primarily preoccupied with philanthropic ventures, with a particular focus on education. In 1997, she founded College Track, an after-school program that helps low-income students prepare for and enroll in college, and in September she committed $50 million to a new project called XQ: The Super School Project, which aims to revamp the high-school curriculum and experience.

Last October, Jobs spoke out against "Steve Jobs," Aaron Sorkin's movie about her late husband that portrays him in a harsh light, calling it "fiction." Jobs had been against the project from the get-go, reportedly calling Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale to ask them to decline roles in the film.



15. Azim Premji

Net worth:$16.5 billion

Age: 70

Country: India

Industry: Technology

In 1966, 21-year-old Azim Premji dropped out of Stanford in the wake of his father's death to take the helm of his father's company Western India Vegetable Products — later renamed Wipro. It was under Premji's leadership that the company diversified into toiletries and bath products and, eventually, IT, and the company grew exponentially. Now India's third-largest IT giant, Wipro generated revenues of $7.6 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

Just days into the new year, Premji named Abidali Neemuchwala, a Dallas-based consultancy executive, the new CEO of Wipro, citing him as the best leader to take Wipro into "its next phase of growth." Neemuchwala had been brought on to Wipro as chief operating officer last April after years of working for rival Tata Consultancy Services.

Premji is known for his generosity. He signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate at least half of his wealth to charity, and in 2015 was named "the most generous Indian" on the Hurun India Philanthropy list for the third year in a row.



14. Dieter Schwarz

Net worth:$20.9 billion

Age: 76

Country: Germany

Industry: Retail

Dieter Schwarz joined his father's food-wholesaling business in 1973 and opened the company's first discount supermarket shortly thereafter. He took over as CEO when his father died in 1977 and rapidly expanded the business outside Germany, rebranding the company as Schwarz Gruppe.

The parent company umbrellas Lidl, a successful grocery-store chain and the second largest in Germany behind Aldi, and Kaufland, a chain of "hypermarket" stores similar to Walmart. Lidl has nearly 10,000 stores across 26 European countries and is set to break ground on US soil in 2018. Schwarz Gruppe now pulls in $85 billion in annual sales.

The German billionaire lives a quiet life out of the spotlight with his wife and two kids in their hometown of Heilbronn. He's reportedly a generous donor to educational causes.



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What it’s like to get up-close-and personal with the NFL's biggest stars, according to a photographer who has shot them in action

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Maddie NFL

NFL games are a huge adrenaline rush, whether you're watching them at the stadium, at a sports bar, or in the comfort of your own living room.

Thousands of people get to watch from the stands, and generally millions of people are tuning in on TV, but only a handful get to experience all the action from the sidelines. 

One of those special few is Getty Images photographer Maddie Meyer, who has photographed more than 30 NFL games.

She started in 2013 as an intern for Getty Images, photographing a season for the Jets and the Giants — and in 2015 spent an entire season photographing the New England Patriots. 

We spoke with Meyer about her up-close-and-personal experience with NFL stars, and how her access gets her closer to the tense emotions.

SEE ALSO: SUPER BOWL 50: Our official picks for who will win Sunday's big game

Being a Getty Images photographer for the NFL means Meyer gets to be around some major NFL heavy-hitters, including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and many more.



In order to properly cover a game, Meyer needs to observe each player's emotions, as well as their on-the-field rituals.



"Getting to know each players’ habits is a huge help — like getting into position before Tom Brady makes his pregame entrance to Jay-Z's 'Public Service Announcement,'" Meyer said.



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This is the biggest mistake you're making with your laundry

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laundry

You might not actually know how to do laundry.

No, wait, hear me out. The conventional method of washing on cold, moving to the dryer, and drying on the hottest setting is doing harm to your clothes that you might not even realize.

You see, the dryer is evil. It may seem innocent, with its pure promise to extract the moisture from your clothing and leave them unwrinkled.

But the dryer has a darker side: You're trading the convenience of drying your clothing quickly and easily for the longevity of your garments.

Here's the two ways the dryer destroys clothing:

  • Dryers shrink clothing. This is common knowledge to many. But what you may not know, and what a recent study confirmed, according to USA Today, is that the dryer shrinks clothing twice as much as washing alone. The study says that the temperature of tumble drying isn't what causes shrinkage — it's the agitation and forced air that affects the fabric's size.
  • The agitation of tumble drying produces microscopic wear to your clothing. Since it's so small, you can't actually see it unless you look in the dryer's lint compartment. There you will find pieces of fabric that have come off the clothing in the dryer, and they reduce the longevity of your garment. The study found that towels washed and dried 20 times lost 50% of their tensile strength.

How can you avoid this? Easy: avoid the dryer altogether. Shirts and pants can be put on hangers after a washing cycle, and hung up in your closet or bathroom to dry. You can minimize your dryer time by using it only for undergarments, towels, socks, and other miscellaneous items.

If you still insist on drying everything, the evidence points to shorter, less-hot cycles being better for your clothes overall. Ultimately, you want to minimize the time your clothes touch heat and are agitated by the tumble.

Your clothes will ultimately thank you.

SEE ALSO: 2 grooming resolutions every guy needs to make this year

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NOW WATCH: This foot-powered washing machine will save you a ton of time and money

14 beautiful photos of Bob Dylan joking around with his famous friends backstage

Peanuts, pistachios and other 'nuts' that aren’t actually nuts

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nuts

The jig is up!

For too long peanuts have masqueraded as America's favorite nut.

For too long, almonds have snuck into the mixed nuts bag at your grocery.

We've been foolishly snacking on 'nuts' that are definitely not nuts, and it's time to set the record straight.

Here are the five most common impostors:

LEARN MORE: The fascinating and terrible things that would happen to you if you tried to fly on Jupiter — and other planets

SEE ALSO: Frying these foods will give you a major boost in important disease-fighting vitamins

Peanuts

Most edible nuts, like pecans or hazelnuts, grow on trees. But peanuts grow in pods that mature underground and are classified as a legume, like lentils and peas.



Cashews

Technically, nuts are a type of fruit. Fruits develop from a plant's ovary, and as the ovary matures it forms a wall around the fruit. For common fruits like apples and peaches, the ovary wall is the fleshy outer skin while for nuts the ovary wall is the hard, outer shell.

Cashews, on the other hand, are a seed of the cashew apple, shown here. The cashew seed is the c-shaped, greyish object at the bottom of the fruit.



Walnuts

Walnuts are another seed masquerading as a nut. Their shells mature and harden inside of a fibrous, green husk, but it's common to extract the walnut prematurely for the English delicacy pickled walnuts.



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The 50 richest people on earth

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The wealthiest 50 people in the world control a staggering portion of the world economy: $1.46 trillion — more than the annual GDP of Australia, Spain, or Mexico.

That's according to new data provided to Business Insider by Wealth-X, which conducts research on the super-wealthy. Wealth-X maintains a database of dossiers on more than 110,000 ultra-high-net-worth people, using a proprietary valuation model that takes into account each person's assets, then adjusts estimated net worth to account for currency-exchange rates, local taxes, savings rates, investment performance, and other factors.

Its latest ranking of the world's billionaires found that 29 of the top 50 hail from the US and nearly a quarter made their fortunes in tech. To crack this list, you'd need to have a net worth of at least $14.3 billion. And for the most part these people weren't born with a silver spoon. More than two-thirds are completely self-made, having built some of the most powerful companies, including Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Google, Nike, and Oracle.

From tech moguls and retail giants to heirs and heiresses, here are the billionaires with the deepest pockets around the globe.

SEE ALSO: The 20 most generous people in the world

DON'T MISS: The wealthiest people in the world under 35

49. TIE: Aliko Dangote

Net worth:$14.3 billion

Age: 58

Country: Nigeria

Industry: Diversified investments

Source of wealth: Self-made; Dangote Group

At 20, Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote borrowed money from his uncle to start a business that dealt in commodities trading, cement, and building materials. He quickly expanded to import cars during the country's economic boom. Four years later, in 1981, he formed Dangote Group, an international conglomerate that now holds diversified interests that include food and beverages, plastics manufacturing, real estate, logistics, telecommunications, steel, oil, and gas. At $14.3 billion, Dangote's fortune is the largest in Africa and equal to 2.5% of Nigeria's GDP.

The majority of Dangote's wealth stems from his stake in Dangote Cement, which is publicly traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He owns cement plants in Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa, and in 2011 invested $4 billion to build a facility on the Ivory Coast. Dangote bought back a majority stake in Dangote Flour Mills — which had grown unprofitable after he sold a large stake to South African food company Tiger Brands three years ago for $190 million — in December for just $1. He is also chairman of The Dangote Foundation, which focuses on education and health initiatives, including a $12,000-per-day feeding program.



49. TIE: James Simons

Net worth:$14.3 billion

Age: 77

Country: US

Industry: Hedge funds

Source of wealth: Self-made; Renaissance Technologies

Before revolutionizing the hedge fund industry with his mathematics-based approach, "Quant King" James Simons worked as a code breaker for the US Department of Defense during the Vietnam War, but was fired after criticizing the war in the press. He chaired the math department at Stony Brook University for a decade until leaving in 1978 to start a quantitative-trading firm. That firm, now called Renaissance Technologies, has more than $65 billion in assets under management among its many funds.

Simons has always dreamed big. About 10 years ago, he announced that he was starting a fund that he claimed would be able to handle $100 billion, about 10% of all assets managed by hedge funds at the time. That fund, Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund, never quite reached his aspirations — it currently handles about $10.5 billion— but his flagship Medallion fund is among the best-performing ever: It has generated a nearly 80% annualized return before fees since its inception in 1988.

In October, Renaissance shut down a $1 billion fund — one of its smaller ones — "due to a lack of investor interest." The firm's other funds, however, have been up and climbing. Simons retired in 2009, but remains chairman of the company.



47. TIE: Laurene Powell Jobs

Net worth:$14.4 billion

Age: 52

Country: US

Industry: Media

Source of wealth: Inheritance; Disney

The widow of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, Laurene Powell Jobs inherited his wealth and assets, which included 5.5 million shares of Apple stock and a 7.3% stake in The Walt Disney Co., upon his death. Jobs' stake in Disney — which has nearly tripled in value since her husband's death in 2011 and comprises more than $12 billion of her net worth — makes her the company's largest individual shareholder.

Though she's best recognized through her iconic husband, Jobs has had a career of her own. She worked on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs before earning her MBA at Stanford in 1991, after which she married her late husband and started organic-foods company Terravera. But she's been primarily preoccupied with philanthropic ventures, with a particular focus on education. In 1997, she founded College Track, an after-school program that helps low-income students prepare for and enroll in college, and in September she committed $50 million to a new project called XQ: The Super School Project, which aims to revamp the high-school curriculum and experience.

Last October, Jobs spoke out against "Steve Jobs," Aaron Sorkin's movie about her late husband that portrays him in a harsh light, calling it "fiction." Jobs had been against the project from the get-go, reportedly calling Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale to ask them to decline roles in the film.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Psychologists say one behavior is the 'kiss of death' for a relationship

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Ben Affleck Jennifer Garner divorce

On the way home from work you have every intention of greeting your partner with a friendly "Hi, how are you? How was your day?" and listening attentively while he or she tells you all about it.

But the minute you open the door and drop your keys on the counter, you find yourself knee-deep in an argument about how he or she bought the wrong type of pepper.

Don't worry: It's perfectly normal to get into arguments like these with your significant other every once in a while, John Gottman, a psychologist at the University of Washington and founder of the Gottman Institute, told Business Insider.

It's what happens next that you need to watch out for, he says.

When you express your frustration over the pepper mix-up, do you listen while he explains that perhaps you didn't ever tell him what type of pepper you wanted? Do you think this over, and, when you realize that maybe he's right, do you apologize? Or do you adopt an attitude and think to yourself, "What kind of an idiot doesn't know that bell peppers are for stir-fry and habaneros are for salsa?"

If you find yourself in the second situation, you're likely displaying contempt for your partner, and it could be putting your relationship in jeopardy.

Contempt, a virulent mix of anger and disgust, is far more toxic than simple frustration or negativity. It involves seeing your partner as beneath you, rather than as an equal.

Gwyneth Paltrow Chris Martin AuctionGottman and University of California at Berkeley psychologist Robert Levenson found this single behavior is so powerful that they can use it — along with the negative behaviors of criticism, defensiveness, and stonewalling — to predict divorce with 93% accuracy.

"Contempt," says Gottman, "is the kiss of death."

The striking 93% figure comes from a 14-year study of 79 couples living across the US Midwest (21 of whom divorced during the study period) published in 2002. Since then, decades of research into marriage and divorce have lent further support to the idea linking divorce with specific negative behaviors.

One recent study of 373 newlywed couples, for example, found that couples who yelled at each other, showed contempt for each other, or simply began to disengage from conflict within the first year of marriage were more likely to divorce, even as far as 16 years down the road.

Why are couples who exhibit this one behavior more likely to split up?

It comes down to a superiority complex.

Feeling smarter than, better than, or more sensitive than your significant other means you're not only less likely see his or her opinions as valid, but, more importantly, you're far less willing to try to put yourself in his or her shoes to try to see a situation from his or her perspective.

Picture a resonance chamber, suggests Gottman, with each person in the relationship a source of his or her own musical (or emotional) vibrations. If each partner is closed off to the other person's vibes (or emotions) and more interested in unleashing their own feelings of disgust and superiority, these negative vibrations will resound against one another, escalating a bad situation "until something breaks," Gottman says.

If you've noticed yourself or your partner exhibiting this type of behavior, don't despair — it doesn't mean your relationship is doomed.

Being aware that you're doing something that could negatively affect your partner is the first step to actively combating it. If you can figure out how to avoid the behavior or replace it with a more positive one, you'll likely greatly improve the relationship — and increase your chances of staying together for longer.  

UP NEXT: 4 behaviors are the most reliable predictors of divorce

SEE ALSO: Psychologists say one strategy is key to defusing heated arguments and avoiding divorce

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: People who post about their relationships on Facebook might be hiding something

This is the history of one of the world’s most popular food

9 quotes from Mark Zuckerberg's first interview when he was 20 years old (FB)

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Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook turned 12 this week, and while many are speculating what the Facebook of the future will look like, an interesting piece of its past has recently resurfaced.

In June 2004, four months after "TheFacebook.com" launched, Harvard's student newspaper, The Crimson, did a profile of creator Mark Zuckerberg.

He had just turned 20.

Years before he would become one of the wealthiest people in the world, Zuckerberg gave the interview while packing up his belongings at the end of the semester, casually answering questions about his first major software project that he developed in high school, which he declined to sell for $2 million, and his future plans. 

What makes the entire interview worth reading is the fact thatZuckerberg's thoughts are unfiltered, without a PR handler hovering nearby. And although his opinions may have changed over the past 12 years, many of the same traits — confidence, humor, and curiosity — are all still very apparent. 

SEE ALSO: Steve Ballmer talks about the current state of Microsoft, his Twitter investment, and how sports tech can help the Clippers

“Half the things I do I don’t release. I spent five hours programming last night, and came up with something that was kind of cool, showed it to a bunch of my friends, and the rest of campus will never know about it.”



“I don’t really know what the next big thing is because I don’t spend my time making big things. I spend time making small things and then when the time comes I put them together.”



“I’m just like a little kid. I get bored easily and computers excite me. Those are the two driving factors here.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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One family saves over $16,000 a year living 'off the grid' on the property where Led Zeppelin wrote 'Stairway to Heaven'

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In 1970, British rock band Led Zeppelin crafted one of their biggest hits, "Stairway to Heaven," in an idyllic cottage in rural Wales.

The traditional stone and slate Welsh cottage, known as Bron Yr Aur, had no electricity or running water at the time — just beautiful countryside views and the perfect degree of solitude to inspire songs, words, and thoughts.

Today, not much has changed besides the occupants.

Residents Scott (43) and Ruth (39) Roe, along with their 8-year-old daughter, have kept Bron Yr Aur off the grid, turning it into a hub of renewable activity, Marketplace reports.

They generate four different types of energy on their 1/3-acre "micro farm" — wind, solar, hydro, and wood burning power — and their water supply comes from the same stream that has been providing water to the property for hundreds of years.

"Getting the energy you need from these sources is really hard," the couple told Marketplace, but it's worth it: "We can say — hand on heart — that we are doing everything in our lives to to reduce global warming."

It's also cost efficient. The Roes estimate they save £11,630 a year — about $16,539. (Going forward, all costs and figures have been converted from British pounds to approximate US dollars).

Business Insider spoke with the family about their low carbon lifestyle, the cost advantages (and hidden costs) that come with living off the grid, and what it's like to live on the property that draws Led Zeppelin fans from all over the world:

SEE ALSO: One couple quit their jobs to build a new life traveling the US in a 98-square-foot tiny home

Bron Yr Aur has been in Ruth's family since 1971 and she has been coming to the cottage since she was a baby. She and Scott made the permanent move from Birmingham — a city in the West Midlands, England — just over five years ago.

"We both wanted to live more sustainably," Scott tells Business Insider. "We had set up a woodland nature reserve project an hour south of Bron Yr Aur ten years ago, as I was looking at ways of offsetting carbon and doing some positive work. Moving to Wales from the Midlands seemed to fit in with all of our plans."



They're keeping the creative tradition alive at Bron Yr Aur. Scott is an ecologist, and Ruth a teacher, and they sell artwork on the side. They don't have an art studio on the property, "but there are so many great outdoor locations to sit and sketch and create," Scott says.

Ruth studied art at the University of Warwick and Scott's artistic career has included the circus, theater, music, and more static forms of visual art. They sell their artwork online, along with other Bron Yr Aur artists. These artists include their daughter, who sold her first commercial work in 2011.



"The cost of living is very different here," Scott says. "There are a lot of bills that we don't have to pay, as we create 95% of our own energy. The other 5% comes from a backup generator, which we're trying to reduce the use of each each year until we are 100% self sufficient in energy."

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Producing 95% of their own energy saves about $1,180 a year, and they're in the process of switching over to a more cost-efficient heating system, which will save them even more, Scott explains: "We're going to be switching over to greater use of basic wood fired heat systems, rather than depending on a wood pellet boiler — wood pellets mean we rely on buying fuel." This could save an additional $569 to $853 per year, he estimates, meaning they could save over $1,707 a year on energy costs.



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A new hair trend has guys going gray on purpose

These 13 Google Chrome hacks will save you time and keep you focused

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We spend so much time online that it's important to maximize what we get out of it. Being more productive on the internet can help you make time for things you love.

While there are many websites out there that can suck your time, there are also web extensions and programs people have created to help you focus. With them, you can limit the amount of time you waste on social media, quickly find the site you're looking for, and even improve your writing so you can get a point across fast.

These 13 extensions and apps help you streamline your Chrome browsing and free up your time.

SEE ALSO: These 13 Google Chrome hacks will change the way you use the internet

Todoist is one of the best to-do list tools, and its extension lets you harness the power of Gmail.

Todoist is one of the most popular tools for making sure you get all your tasks done — and it works across mobile, desktop, tablet ... you name it. The Chrome extension lets you manage these straight from your toolbar, and adds functions like being able to save different web pages as individual tasks. It also has Gmail integration, which means that you can push an email directly into your to-do list.

Download Todoist here.



Avoid stupid mistakes in your writing with Grammarly.

Have you ever sent an email and then seconds later realized there's a typo in it? That's what Grammarly is for. The extension looks for misspellings and improves the quality of your writing. And it's not just for Gmail. Grammarly works on social media, too.



Timestats shows you how you spend your time in the internet.

Timestats is an extension that shows you statistics on how you spend your time on the internet. Once you download it, it can give you a daily or monthly breakdown, tell you what times you are busiest, the total time you spend on the internet, and much more. And don’t worry, you can delete periods of time if you so choose.

Download Timestats here.



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37 thoughtful Valentine's Day gifts under $50

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Valentine's Day is a chance to show our loved ones that we care ... and perhaps gift them a token or two of our affection.

Whether your Valentine is a friend, family member, new date, or treasured spouse, check out 37 gifts under $50 that will make them smile. 

We didn't include chocolate or flowers, because: duh.

And remember —  a homemade, heartfelt card is usually just as appreciated. 

SEE ALSO: 50 fantastic holiday gifts for $50 or less

Charm your favorite person with a heat-changing heart mug.

The heart turns red as you fill the mug, for another boost of affection with every cup of tea.

Price: $7



Make your office a little more festive with heart cookie cutters.

Bake and decorate cookies with your Valentine, then enjoy them with your cubicle-mates.

Price: $10



Keep bits and bobs safe with a tiny ring dish.

It might be made for rings, but there's no rule it can't hold earrings, cuff links, or keys.

Price: $10



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Here are the extravagant rings given to Super Bowl champions over the years

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Football teams playing in the Super Bowl drop up to $5,000 per championship ring. That's the allowance the NFL gives.

But to the victor who earns it, the value of the ring exceeds money.

"It isn't just diamond and gold," said Jerry Kramer, a former Green Bay Packer player who won the first Super Bowl in 1966. "It's a collection of memories and moments."

Minneapolis-based jewelry company Jostens is the primary supplier of Super Bowl rings, in addition to manufacturing the majority of high school and college graduation rings in the US. It has made 30 rings in the Super Bowl's 49-year history.

Jostens provided us with photos of the Super Bowl rings they've supplied.

Super Bowl 1967: Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10



Super Bowl 1968: Green Bay Packers 33, Oakland Raiders 14



Super Bowl 1970: Kansas City Chiefs 23, Minnesota Vikings 7



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The 5-year-old Afghan boy who made himself a plastic bag Lionel Messi jersey will meet his idol

I took the 'Elon Musk Challenge' and spent only $2 a day on food for a month — and it was easier than I expected

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pasta

When Elon Musk was 17, he lived off a dollar a day for a month to see if he had what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

He explained the experiment to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in an episode of Tyson's StarTalk Radio podcast:

In America it's pretty easy to keep yourself alive. So my threshold for existing was pretty low. I figured I could be in some dingy apartment with my computer and be okay, and not starve.

In fact, when I first came to North America — I was in Canada when I was 17 — and just to sort of see what it takes to live, I tried to live on $1 a day, which I was able to do. You sort of just buy food in bulk at the supermarket ... I was like, "Oh, okay. If I can live for a dollar a day — at least from a food-cost standpoint — it's pretty easy to earn $30 in a month, so I'll probably be okay.

I decided to replicate the challenge this past month. I adjusted for inflation — $1 in 1988, when Musk was 17, is the equivalent $2 today — and set aside $62 for the 31-day month of January.

Musk lived off mostly hot dogs and oranges, occasionally mixing in pasta and jarred tomato sauce. I bought mostly bananas, pasta, and peanut butter and would switch it up with the occasional fried egg or sweet potato.

I reached out to Musk after completing the challenge. "That's great, although I would not encourage anyone to live on $1 a day," he wrote me in an email. "That would not be super fun. Also, I did this back in 1990, so a dollar went a lot further back then. Would be much harder to do that today."

(Yes, I realize he just said 1990, but I did the entire month based on the value of a 1988 dollar, and I'm not about to re-do it ... so bear with me. The point still stands.)

Thirty-one days, 14 bags of pasta, six jars of peanut butter, and too many bananas to count later, I completed the "Elon Musk Challenge" with $1.07 to spare. Here's what it was like:

SEE ALSO: I spent only $4 a day on food for a week — and it was grueling

I set aside exactly $62 the evening of December 31 and established a few guidelines for the month-long challenge:

1. No office snacks. If I'm emulating the lifestyle of a struggling entrepreneur, I probably cannot rely on an office stocked with snacks.

2. No "rollover" food. I decided not to eat any food that I bought prior to January 2016.

3. I CAN accept food from other people or any freebies. I wouldn't be actively seeking out free food or asking friends and family to buy me anything — the point of the challenge was not to see how much free food I could accumulate in a month — but if I came across free samples or if someone (outside of my office) offered me a snack or meal, it was fair game.

4. I can spend more than the allotted $2 on any given day. I just can't exceed the $62 over the course of the month. Some days I would spend $8 at the grocery store for supplies that would last several days, while other days, I spent nothing.

5. One cup of coffee per day. For productivity reasons, I did allow myself one cup of coffee from the office Keurig machine each morning. After struggling with caffeine headaches while completing the food-stamp challenge last year, I learned that a cup of coffee would be essential if I wanted a chance at being productive during the work day.



My "strategy" the first couple of days was simply to buy the cheapest food I knew of — pasta and oats — and eat my supplies as I got hungry.

Pictured above are the groceries from my first shopping trip at Trader Joe's.

In terms of flavor, for the first couple of days, there was none. I had accepted at the beginning of the challenge that everything was going to be considerably bland, and I assumed I wouldn't be able to afford much more than pasta and oats.



It only took one traumatizing treadmill run and a series of leg cramps to realize I would need a more concrete plan (and protein) if I had any chance of completing the challenge.

I started by adding a good source of protein — peanut butter — to my pile of loot, tortilla to accompany the peanut butter, and bananas for a bit of potassium.



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Here's how Tao makes hundreds of giant fortune cookies by hand every night

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Tao restaurants are famous for their fortune cookie dessert. But like most things at Tao, these aren't your average fortune cookies. Instead, these handmade cookies dwarf the kind you would typically find at a Chinese restaurant. Plus, they're filled with white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse.

Story by Aly Weisman and editing by A.C. Fowler

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Chemistry reveals the secret ingredient for perfect nacho cheese

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Nachos

Super Bowl weekend is nearly here, and that means football, beer, and nachos.

Let's face it: Not all nachos are created equal. There are the nachos you make at home and the nachos you buy at the stadium.

The key difference is the texture of the cheese: Stadium nachos have that magical liquid texture you get from processed cheese product that you just can't replicate from melting shredded cheddar in your microwave or oven.

But thankfully, the experts at the American Chemical Society (ACS) have found a way for you to get that velvety texture in your own kitchen without having to turn to processed cheese.

Aside from cheese, all you need are two key ingredients: Beer and sodium citrate, which you can order online (Ebay sells 4-oz. packages for $4.89).

The way it workst is that sodium citrate works to rearrange the structure of proteins in the cheese that gives natural cheddar its soft, yet solid, texture.

When sodium citrate interacts with the calcium in the cheese proteins, it replaces calcium atoms with sodium atoms, thus restructuring the proteins and transforming the texture from a soft block to a liquid velvet, perfect for pouring on tortilla chips:

cheeseHere are the steps to making the ultimate nacho cheese, which you can find in the description below this ACS video:

  1. Put a pot on the stove at medium heat.
  2. Add one cup of your favorite beer.
  3. Add two teaspoons of sodium citrate and stir until dissolved.
  4. Bring beer to a simmer and slowly add your favorite cheese, preferably a cheddar, and whisk it in until you've got a smooth, creamy cheese sauce.
  5. Take it to the next level by adding your own special ingredient(s). Hot sauce? Peppers? Onions? Whatever floats your boat.
  6. Pour over your nachos, or serve as on the side.
  7. Become a Superbowl snack legend.

Check out the full ACS video on YouTube or below:

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